Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

"Well, Doctor, I don't think you'll believe this, but if it hadn't been for this damned heavy rain making taxi fares too expensive, we never would've chosen to wait at the bus station in downtown Yard City. After we got on the bus, we didn't notice anything wrong,"

"You mean Yard City, over two hundred kilometers north of New York?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"No, please continue."

"Right, at first, we did the same as you, tossing a Coin and simply taking a seat. At that time, there were two other... people? I can't be certain."

"They got off?"

"Yes, a woman in a drab dress with withered hair got off first, then at the next stop, another person got on. He must've been a programmer because he was wearing a plaid shirt and carrying a laptop bag."

"And then?"

"Then, the remaining person gestured to the programmer to come off the bus as he got off."

"He didn't follow them off, so something terrifying happened afterward?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Exactly..."

Du Wei and the black man quickly went back and forth, summarizing the events.

He began to think.

Considering the eerie Scarecrow from earlier, the woman in the drab dress could also be some kind of Evil Spirit.

After a moment of thought, he asked, "Tell me what happened next."

The black man licked his lips, recalling with terror, "At first, we didn't think anything was wrong, but when the bus stopped again, we saw that person once more."

"He gave off a strange feeling, I can't remember what he looked like at all, I only knew he was male. That programmer was curious, asking how he had caught up to the bus, then the programmer realized something was wrong."

"But by then it was too late. As he approached the bus door, the man gestured for him, and the programmer moved his legs to get off, just like a puppet."

"I wasn't sitting where I am now, so I was close to the programmer. I grabbed him and hastily closed the bus door."

"Because I saw that outside was a cemetery, my grandmother was a believer of the Turin Cult, so... you probably understand..."

Du Wei nodded, "Continue."

The black man took a breath and said, "Then, the bus kept moving forward, stopping again in the same place. That ghostly man was still standing by the cemetery, and we all were terrified, desperately pulling at the rear door."

"However, the man who had gestured suddenly appeared inside the bus; his body was rapidly decaying. Can you imagine that sight? I even saw a bunch of worms crawling out of his mouth, and the whole bus's lights turned a ghastly pale."

Du Wei calmly asked, "And then that man, whose face you can't remember, took the programmer away?"

The black man's expression was very strange, "I can't be sure because the lights kept flickering and finally plunged into darkness. When the lights came back on, they had disappeared, and everything was as if nothing had ever happened."

At this point, he pointed at the bus lights overhead.

Du Wei also looked up, "An old built-in light, looks like something from the last century."

"What about the driver? Was he, like this time, showing no reaction at all?"

"He's a dead man..."

The woman among the couple looked up at the driver's seat and emotionlessly uttered.

After listening, Du Wei paid no more attention to the black couple; he decided to take a look and collect more information.

It wasn't that he didn't believe them, but he had his own agenda.

Du Wei had chosen to ride this bus to investigate and limit its movements.

He needed the invisible camera on his chest to record everything to exchange for what he wanted from Father Tony.

Watching Du Wei's retreating figure, the black couple exchanged glances and simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

In their eyes, the indifferent and self-proclaimed Doctor Du Wei brought pressure almost as distressing as the Evil Spirit.

Because the man's calmness when firing a gun was really no different from the most cold-blooded assassin.

And Linda, curled up in the back seat, had also regained some sanity by now. She looked at Du Wei with grateful eyes, but her look towards the black couple was filled with deep hatred.

Gratitude was only momentary and would dissipate quickly with time.

And hatred, like wine, settles and ferments, becoming only more concentrated over time.

...

Du Wei made his way to the driver's seat, peering at the driver through the partition window. From this angle, he could clearly see the driver's face.

Pale and cold.

It was covered in wrinkles; obviously, the man was elderly.

Of course, Du Wei had not forgotten the moment earlier when Linda had inquired about bus fare and the driver had pointed to the coin box.

He slid his hand into his clothing, gripping the cross-shaped dagger but not drawing it.

In fact, the object had been re-immersed in Holy Water. Although he did not understand the principle, according to Father Tony's exact words—it indeed could combat Evil Spirits.

Du Wei adjusted his position and studied the old man carefully.

He noticed that, even as the bus moved, the driver's hands were always tightly grasping the steering wheel, yet there were no signs of any movement, and his feet were not on the gas pedal.

However, the bus's route seemed to change occasionally, and its speed was gradually slowing.

"So the driver is just a prop, and the bus is moving on its own?"

Du Wei silently questioned in his mind before abandoning the idea of doing anything to the driver, like dousing him with the last half-bottle of Holy Water.

Because he suspected that the bus itself was an Evil Spirit, or a similar entity, just like the Antique Clock hanging in his own home—a type of strange existence.

The driver, in a sense, could be considered a medium.

Du Wei didn't want to find out what would happen after touching the medium,

because that would mean facing unknown dangers.

So far, the investigation had yielded enough information.

As for limiting its actions, Du Wei only planned to wait until after the rain stopped.

By now, he had roughly deduced the pattern of the haunted bus—it was related to the torrential rain.

Simultaneously, anywhere it was raining heavily, the bus could appear, which was evident from the places where Linda and the black couple had boarded.

Therefore, it was very possible that the bus might stop in a normal city once the rain ceased.

Thinking of this, Du Wei furrowed his brows.

A thought flashed through his mind: what if the rain never stopped?

Or rather, if the bus kept appearing in cities where it was raining...

In that case, it would be an endless loop of bus routes.

If it were so, he might have to resort to the last method available.

But Father Tony had limited knowledge of the bus, so whether that method would be effective was another matter.

Du Wei took a deep look at the driver holding the steering wheel and turned, intending to return to his seat.

And then, at that moment...

Suddenly...

The sound of a sharp brake hissed into the air.

The already slowing bus came to an abrupt stop.

Du Wei instinctively looked outside and saw around ten white youths, around seventeen or eighteen years old, standing outside the bus, holding black umbrellas, and simultaneously lifting their heads to look at him.

In an instant, their eyes met.

Du Wei entered a state of Spirit Vision directly, even with the bus doors still closed, which was completely different from his previous experiences.

His expression turned somewhat unsightly.

The bus doors slowly opened...

The next stop had arrived...

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